FORMER Chester City owner Terry Smith has spoken out after the fury over his final assault on the club followed him across the Atlantic.

A court order forcing bosses to pay Mr Smith &#xA3;300,000, which he claimed was a loan to the club, has been upheld, sparking bankruptcy fears.

City supporters' outrage soon reached North Carolina, where Mr Smith's neighbours threatened to launch a campaign to get him removed from his post as a high school American football coach.

After his nightmare from Chester caught up with him, Mr Smith told his players his side of the story.

In an e-mail to city supporters, one of Avery High's football players said: 'Terry told the team he bought Chester City to save it from being liquidated.

'He also told how, to get the club back on its feet, he had to sell off some of the better players. The only thing he said he did wrong was he had a bad year.

'There is a group of us here that have seen what Terry is all about.'

This week The Chronicle contacted Gerald Smith's home at the Grand Father Golf and Country Club, where his son is currently staying. But Mr Smith's wife said: 'He does not want to talk about it.'

But Mr Smith's father, Gerald, who was also a city director, said: 'Unless we get our money, we will shut the club.'

Current chairman Stephen Vaughan says there is no evidence of a loan and the club was unable to defend itself in county court.

He says: 'His father Gerald told the court that the money was owed to his son and it was passed without us being able to dispute it.

'The club's registered office had been changed to Smith's home address in Chester and so the correspondence went to him.'

Mr Vaughan's brother-in-law and club general manager David Burford added: 'We were not advised to pursue the matter, but when Mr Smith tried to enforce the order in June we took it back to the court to try and get it over-turned.

'We tried to get Gerald Smith's evidence withdrawn, but we were not able to because it had been left for too long.'

Mr Burford remained tight-lipped about the club's next steps.

He said: 'We will do everything we can to uphold our responsibility to the fans and whatever we do will be in the interests of them and the club.'

Following the news, fan and lawyer Graham Ross sent a strongly worded letter to governors of Avery High School telling them of Mr Smith's history with the club.

Within hours parents, pupils and even the football players coached by Mr Smith had logged on to devachat.com - Chester City's unofficial website.

One father has vowed to start a petition asking the board of education to remove him.

Another parent said: 'Terry Smith only helps those that bow down to him.'

One player slammed Smith's actions on the pitch and said: 'If people had seen how he acted after one game, they would have been as embarrassed as I was.'